Man Crushes and Manic Pixie Dream Girls
by 123serendipitee
Summary: Russell, Dirk, and Jess make up an odd trio of role models as Nick continues to try to sort out who he is, and where he's headed in life. Surprisingly, Jess resents being labeled an inspirational figure. And I really hate writing these lame summaries, lol.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one has been on the burner for a long time. I'd written the "time of the month" thing before ever reading the synopsis of "Menzies", and I'd written the whole "falling in love with the IDEA of a girl" thing before ever viewing "Halloween", and the whole "He'll run away once he realizes I'm not what he think I am" thing before Menzies. Okay, I think that makes it official...My mind is synced with the New Girl writers now. They should just go ahead and hire me and get it over with. ;o)**

**(However the wink and nod to "Safety Not Guaranteed" I clearly cannot take credit for. ;o))**

* * *

"This man-crush that Nick has on Russell is creeping me out." Schmidt was in the kitchen preparing the ingredients for his bi-weekly, all-natural, pore-tightening mask. He had been hacking away at a cucumber with unusual aggravation until Jess finally asked him what was wrong. "It's got me all in a twist."

"I'd make fun of you if I didn't know exactly what you meant," Winston muttered, sipping coffee while scrolling through sports stats from the night before.

"Awwww, come on you guys!" Jess protested, while buttering a bagel, "I think it's cute! It's like he's finally met who he wants to be when he grows up!"

"That's just it," Schmidt said sullenly, waving an avocado around for emphasis as he continued, "He has ME to look up to. Why did he feel the need to search elsewhere for a role model? It makes no sense, man." He cut a lime in half and muttered again, disheartenedly, "It just makes no sense."

"NOW I can make fun of you..."

"HEY. GUYS. You realize I'm sitting right here, right?!" Nick said finally, slamming down his cereal spoon.

"Don't feel so bad Schmidt," Jess comforted him. "You weren't there. You didn't smell that office. It _was _a powerful aphrodisiac. The boy couldn't help himself!"

"I think he thinks he's just one wacky invention away from owning that kind of set-up himself," Winston snickered.

"Sitting RIGHT here. Hearing EVERYTHING you're saying."

"UH...DER!" Schmidt answered Winston, aggressively chunking ingredients into his Vita Mix TurboBlend 4500. "And when that day comes...AND IT WILL COME...who do you think will be sitting across the mahogany desk from Nick, in a matching leather chair?! _Here's_ a hint: NOT! RUSSELL!" And the loud whirring of the blender effectively gave him the last word on the subject.


	2. Chapter 2

Nick powered back his sixth beer of the night, and stared glassily up at the ceiling while reflecting on the scene that had occurred over breakfast that morning. To tell the truth, he was only slightly embarrassed. Those three people knew him well, better than anyone else on earth, he supposed. And when they were right, they were right.

Nick Miller, age 30, was knee-deep in his very first man-crush.

He knew it was ridiculous. But he couldn't stop thinking about the guy! The way his perfectly grayed hair swooped perfectly across his perfectly chiseled forehead. The way one side of his mouth quirked up a little faster than the other side did, when he smiled. The way his voice sounded like gravel mixed with honey. That office. That house. That car.

Yep, the guy had it all.

_And now he had Jess._

Sometimes Nick wondered what fit of stupidity had made him tell Jess that the guy liked her, and to urge her to go back in there and give Russell a chance. He wondered, but he couldn't regret it.

Because damn it, look at her. With the way those perfect black bangs perfectly hid the perfect arc of her perfect forehead. The way her first smile of the day was exactly the same as her last smile of the day, all slow and sweet and sleepy. The way _her _voice sounded like gravel mixed with honey.

He was perfect.

She was perfect.

They were perfect together.

It was what she deserved.

Not some skinny wannabe surfer-type with arms and legs like a spider.

Not some squirrelly kazoo-playing music teacher.

And definitely not some dead-end-job-having, beer-guzzling, wallet-holding, law school drop-out.

No, Russell was a MAN. Nick knew a real man, a fine man, a_ good _man when he saw one...and Russell felt like the first one he'd seen in a long time.

So yeah, if he idealized him a bit, what of it?

It gave him hope for humanity, that such a man even existed.

Hell, it gave him hope for _himself_. Because apparently Russell had been drifting and aimless too, at his age. Russell said so! And Russell didn't lie.

Generous, handsome, mature, responsible Russell would never lie.

He was the best.

Just like Jess was the best.

And she deserved the best.

And now she had it.

Nick drained the last of the bottle and reached for another one, cursing when his hand just rattled against the cardboard side of the empty six-pack.


	3. Chapter 3

"First Russell, now this DIRK-jerk?! Really Nick?! I mean, please know I completely accept your latent homosexuality, but really, your standards are slipping."

Nick rolled his eyes at Schmidt and clarified, "Let's just get one thing straight. Ok, I admit it, I might have absentmindedly doodled Russell's name on the scratch pad while the electric company had me on hold the other day. But rest assured, Nick Miller still enjoys the ladies! And even if I didn't, Dirk wouldn't be my type. Not like_ that_. It's just that he's..."

"Yes Nick, we know..." Winston interrupted, and he, Schmidt and Jess all monotoned in unison, "THE SMARTEST GUY YOU KNOW."

"Nick, Dirk's the WORST! Seriously, you can't see that?!" asked Jess.

Nick just shrugged. "Oh, he's a total loser, I know. But look at him...he's riding loserdom all the way to the bank! How can you not admire that?! If Russell is the angel sitting on my shoulder, Dirk's the devil on the other one. They're yin and yang...diametrical opposites...two sides of the same coin..."

"...don't EVEN try to put him on the same coin with my Russell..."

"He was right about Shelby," grunted Winston, "I'll give him that."

"And his scarf collection_ is _enviable," admitted Schmidt reluctantly.

Jess just looked at them all like they'd contracted a terrible mind-feebling contagion. "WHEN IS HE LEAVING?"


	4. Chapter 4

But even when Dirk was gone, but his legacy remained.

A legacy in the form of more co-ed sex than Nick had ever had when he_ was _a co-ed.

And yeah, it had given his old, broken-down, 30 year old ego a boost, and so far it also seemed to be effectually staving off the nervous breakdown he'd been in the middle of having.

But sometimes, he had to admit, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be, spending so much time with girls who were almost too young to be his little sister.

"How's the barely-legal sex treating you these days, Nick?" Schmidt asked, not even looking up from his cell. He'd been doing a lot of mysterious texting, and had just seemed preoccupied in general, lately. Nick was surprised that Schmidt hadn't been more interested in his recent dating habits than he had been. Surprisingly, he hadn't been trying to get in on the action at all, and even now the absent-minded question seemed more like it was just Schmidt's version of an attempt at polite conversation.

"Oh...you know...tapping butt...forgetting names..." Nick responded with equal apathy.

"Ew," responded Winston and Jess.

"Are you kidding me?!" Schmidt finally looked up from his phone to protest. "If I'd said that, you'd all be making me put money in the jar right now!"

"What's wrong Nick?" Jess asked, ignoring Schmidt's outrage. "Why are you making the ridiculously tormented face that you always make when you can't decide between french fries or onion rings?"

"I don't knooow," he dithered, "It's just that..._I don't always know what they're talking about_, you know?"

"You're TALKING to them in between having sex with them?!" asked Schmidt. "Well there's your first mistake."

"JAR!" his roommates protested.

"SEE?! This is what I'm talking about!" Schmidt stuffed the jar while grumbling something about "double standards".

"Oh trust me," Nick said, "I try to actually TALK to them as little as possible. But every once in awhile there's an awkward pause where I feel like I'm supposed to, you know, at least PRETEND to be interested in their lives. But I'm not up on the kids and their lingo, these days. It's like a foreign language, sometimes. The language of 'cool', which I clearly do not speak.

"Skylar and her friends were talking about how one of them 'got treated' at an intramural soccer game. I thought it meant he had to have medical attention. They all laughed, so I pretended I was just joking. Isn't dating a sorority girl supposed to make me feel cooler and smarter?! Because I'm not gonna lie, it's having the opposite effect. It's really just making me feel old and dumb.

"Did you know 'slizzed' is the new 'drunk'?! I work at a BAR and I didn't even know that. Skylar has a friend who always greets me with, 'What's really good?', and then peppers the entire conversation with, 'I grok what you're saying, man.' One of them regularly asks to 'glomp' me. Another one said he wanted to 'gank my kicks.' Why do so many of their 'cool' words start with the letter 'g', and how am I even supposed to respond to these things?!"

"Just nod and laugh," grunted Winston. "That's what I always do with Schmidt." Schmidt beamed, apparently taking this as an affirmation of the success of his efforts to stay cutting-edge.

"OR," Jess suggested drily, "you could just raise your eyebrows mysteriously, and use really big words that make no actual sense in the context of your answers. That seemed to work for Dirk."

But Nick was too preoccupied to acknowledge her dig towards his old friend. "Oh...GET THIS...the other day Bethany turned to Skylar and waved her hands around and said, 'OH MY GOD! YOU'RE NICK'S MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL!' And Skylar said, 'OH MY GOD! I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE SOMEONE'S MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL!' And then they both started screaming and jumping up and down. What the hell's a 'manic pixie dream girl'?!"

"Winston?!" prompted Schmidt, patting him encouragingly on the back, "You wanna take this one?! You can do this. These are the moments we trained for, buddy."

Winston cleared his throat, searched his memory, and tackled the answer confidently, "A manic pixie dream girl is a common trope in visual entertainment..."

"Ok, stop," Nick protested, "You can't use words I don't know to explain words I don't know. What the hell is a 'trope'? Wait...isn't that one of the optional toppings at that fancy-pants gourmet pizza place that Schmidt always makes us go to?"

"Talk about your double standards!" Winston turned to Schmidt to protest. "Why have you not worked with THIS guy on his pop culture trivia?! I was in FREAKING LATVIA for two years...what's his excuse?!"

"Believe me, I've tried!" answered Schmidt. "But the teacher can only accomplish so much when the student is resistant! It's NICK, Winston...he's not like you...there's only so much hope for him", he ended in a whisper that seemed to placate Winston, because he took a deep breath and went back to explaining patiently:

"A TROPE, Nick, refers to a common or over-used theme or device. A MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL is one of those quirky, bubbly, free-spirited girls in the movies who teaches some brooding, jaded, depressed guy to lighten up and be more spontaneous..._you_ know..." Winston said with a sweeping, dramatic gesture as he embellished airily, "...to open up his heart to experiencing the great and wondrous adventure of life."

"She's a winsome enchantress ," Schmidt chimed in. "Childlike...whimsical...often with a touch of wild hair dye. Think Natalie Portman in Garden State. Kate Hudson in Almost Famous. Kirsten Dunst in Elizabethtown."

"Jess and Russell!" exclaimed Nick, with a sudden light of understanding in his eyes.

"THAT'S RIGHT, NICK!" Schmidt proclaimed with proud surprise. "Jess and Russell! The blithe spirit and the stuffed-shirt! Perfect example! Maybe there IS hope for you!"

Schmidt and Winston congratulated Nick on being such a quick study, while he preened with mock humility. But what they had ALL failed to notice was how conspicuously silent Jess had been throughout the whole discussion.

Well, that was about to come to an alarming end.

"Nick Miller," she began in a low voice, "You take that back."

"What, Jess?!" he answered with happy distraction, still feeling smug.

"You take that back right NOW!" Her voice was getting louder, and suddenly they were all paying attention.

Nick's moment of clarity was over. He was back to being confused again. "Are you...? You're upset?"

"THAT'S THE MEANEST THING YOU EVER SAID TO ME; NOW TAKE IT BACK!"

"Jess, I...I didn't know it was a _bad _thing...SKYLAR thought it was a good thing..." He turned to Winston and Schmidt and hissed, "Why did you leave out the part where somehow this is a bad thing?!"

But they were looking just as confused as he was, and when their eyes focused over his shoulder and widened, he turned around to see Jess disappearing out the door in a huge flounce.

"SCHMIDT!" attacked Winston, the second the door slammed shut behind her, "Did you forget to watch the calendar?! You're supposed to give us a heads up when we're getting close to..." his voice dropped to an ominous whisper, "_That Time of the Month_."

"I just checked this morning! We're two weeks away from P-day, still!"

"Well you better check again, because it would appear that your calibrations are off!"

"MY CALIBRATIONS ARE FLIPPIN' PINPOINT!"

"GUYS!" Nick tried to interrupt their squabbling, "I have to go apologize now, and I don't even know for what! You got me into this mess, now help me out! Why was she insulted by that?"

"And BY THE WAY," Winston just ignored him as he continued berating Schmidt, "I'm calling JAR on 'P-day'. Because that's just nasty!"

"FINE!" Schmidt pouted, stuffing the jar. "But that's my last bill smaller than a twenty, so I'll be going to my room now. AKA, the NO JAR ZONE!"

Nick gave up and headed for the door. Clearly he'd just have to figure this out on his own.


	5. Chapter 5

Somehow he knew he'd find her on the roof. She made a pretty picture, sitting there in the glow of the late-afternoon sun, staring unseeingly out over the city with her face in her hands. Nick ambled over to her slowly, cautiously, as one might approach an injured animal. He lowered himself down next to her, and just joined her silence for a minute or two, letting her get used to his presence, and trying to decide how best to proceed.

"Soooo is this where you go to run away from home when those clowns you live with get to be a little too much?" he finally ventured, just testing her out. "It's nice. Very other-worldly. You really feel above-it-all up here."

She didn't even react to his bad_...pun_, or whatever lame attempt at humor that had been, so he decided to just dive right even, even though he still had no idea what he was doing. "Look...Jess...I'm sorry I upset you, but I don't know _how _I upset you, and I'd love to APOLOGIZE for upsetting you...but first you'll have to tell me why you're upset."

And then he winced. Caroline always used to start yelling when he had to ask what he was supposed to be apologizing for. Which had been pretty often.

But Jess just responded with a quietly resentful, slightly petulant, "I'm not a Manic Pixie Dream Girl."

"Okay," Nick said softly, placatingly, "I believe you. I won't say it again. It sounded accurate to me at the time, but clearly I didn't have all the information I needed yet." Then he tried to "cute" her out of her funk, leaning forward, wrinkling his nose, and nudging her, "Besides...it's ME! You know you can't take anything I say personally...I've proven over and over what an idiot I am!"

But apparently she wasn't in the mood to appreciate how cute he was right then, because she didn't even look at him, and just waved a vague, dismissive hand. "Oh, Nick...it's not you. It's just...it's not the first time someone's said that about me, that's all, and...and I don't like it."

He sighed, accepted that this apology session was going to be more of a marathon than a sprint, and asked more seriously, "Okaaaay...so...complete my education here, and_ tell _me why you don't like it. Because what I heard didn't sound bad at all. It sounded pretty great, actually."

"That's just it...it IS great!" She was suddenly fiercely animated. "...for the GUY! Because this magical creature dances into their lives, and teaches them how to not be scared, and shows them a world that is full of colors and music they never knew existed." This rant was rife with air-quotes and an air of sarcasm that was uncharacteristic of her.

"Yeeeah?" said Nick, thinking it still sounded pretty good. Also thinking that Skylar was REALLY over-rating herself if she thought that's what she was doing for him.

"So the GUY kinda has this great awakening...but the GIRL..." Jess paused with a frustrated sigh, and waved an agitated hand as she continued, "...she always turns out to be _broken_, somehow. The whole time she's trying to get_ him _to learn to embrace life, she's the one who's really just scared to grow up and face her own life for what it really is."

"You've put a lot of thought into this."

"The guy doesn't fall in love with HER, he falls in love with the IDEA of her...and I watch the _whole movie_ knowing that once he realizes that she has her own, great, big, huge flaws, he's not going to love her any more! And once she's served as his inspiration, there's no reason left for her to exist! That why she usually has cancer, or something," Jess continued bitterly, "Or someone close to her died when she was young, and now she runs away when relationships get too serious. That kind of thing. That way she can just conveniently disappear from the picture again once he's outgrown her."

"...a LOT of thought..." Nick marveled a tad wide-eyed, but she was forging ahead unheedingly.

"Well guess what?! I don't WANT to be with someone who needs to be saved! And I don't WANT to be the girl who needs someone to save her back! I want to be with someone who knows who he is, and knows who I am, and to...to...to have it just WORK, without...without having to pretend to have all the answers, and without having to be afraid that someone won't like me anymore once they find out that I don't."

"Okay...okay...that certainly sounds reasonable..." Nick finally managed to interrupt her diatribe, "But...what's the deal, Jess? Why does this whole thing hit so close to home with you?"

She glanced at him sharply.

"Come on Jess, let's be real, you're all worked up, here. There's obviously some reason this is a touchy subject with you." He leaned forward and tried the "cute" thing again, cajoling with a smile, "Come oooon! You're always after me to talk about feelings, and look at me...here I am_...doing _it...aren't you proud of me?!"

"I'm always after you to talk about YOUR feelings," she muttered, holding her feet out in front of her and studying the scuffed toes of her favorite blue flats.

Dammit, "cute" just wasn't working with her tonight. He'd just have to out-stubborn her. "Let's go, Jessica Day...I'm not gonna let you off the hook here, so you may as well spill it all."

She sighed and gave up. "OKAY, FINE. So maybe sometimes...sometimes I'm afraid that in the end, maybe I_ am _just this two-dimensional cliche' of a person. People seem to take me that way, sometimes. I mean, _Julia _did..."

"SCREW Julia, Jess! She had her own crazy-ass problems, you know that..."

But she was on an unstoppable roll again.

"...well, I mean, it just TICKS ME OFF. I just want to be ME, and who I want to be...who I AM!...and to have someone else LOVE me for it! The good AND the bad! Is that to much to ask?!"

"No," Nick answered softly, "It's not." Her thoughts were jumping all over the place now, and she was making less sense all the time. So as she continued it struck Nick as ironic that for once he actually knew_ exactly_ what she was talking about.

"BUT..the thing is...I think I AM broken, a little. I mean, look at me! I'm 30 years old, and I share an apartment with three guys!" She stopped to glance at him with sheepish apology as she clarified, "...three, wonderful, beautiful guys who I LOVE..._but..." _she waved her hands in distracted frustration, "...all my old friends are married, and having kids, and moving along in their lives and careers and passions and hobbies, and I'm just..."

"...stalled out."

"Yeah! Stalled out! How did you know?"

"Jess." He leveled a pointed gaze at her. "Seriously. Look who you're talking to. The original 'broken' guy. Trust me, you can't possibly feel more 'stalled out' in life than I do. Skylar and Bethany were right...I'm that sad-sack of a guy who NEEDS a manic pixie dream girl. Let's face it...I NEED saving."

Jess was silent for a second or two before responding softly, sadly, "I know you do, Nick. And I kinda do too. And it sucks."

"...it _does_..."

"Because until we figure OURSELVES out, how could we ever be in a healthy relationship with...with someone else?"

Suddenly, Nick knew they weren't talking about Russell and Skylar anymore. And while part of his heart had began to flutter with hope, like a baby bird testing its wings, he found he had to answer with the grounded reply, "You're right...we can't."

"Because some things...some things are too good to screw up, you know?"

He answered softly, "I do know." And he smiled sadly, but he didn't let himself look at her; he just kept his eyes on the setting sun. And then suddenly, in a moment of rare, intuitive clarity, he knew what he needed to say.

"Look Jess...I mean, seriously, listen to me a minute! We've been living together like, a year, right?! Would you say I know you pretty well?"

She smiled an embarrassed little smile. "Yeaaaah, I'd say so."

"The good and the bad?!"

She just scrunched her face up in response. They both knew it was true.

"And let's face it, of everyone you know, I pretty much have the LEAST patience with the glittery world-full-of-sunshine-and-kittens that you usually live in, right?!"

She just laughed. They both knew that was true too, cynical bastard that he was.

"So here's the thing, and I want you to hear this: It's one year later, and I've lived with you day in and out, and I've seen it ALL, and yeah, you drive me NUTS sometimes...but you know what I see when I look at you?"

She squinted at him with uneasy skepticism. "Umm...I'm not sure I like where this is going, but...ok?"

"I see a girl who's definitely NOT a cartoon or a cliche...a girl who's not like anyone I've ever met before, and I KNOW if I live to be 100 I will never meet anyone like her again. Yeah, ok, you're quirky and you...well,let's face it...you DO rock a lot of polka dots! But you're_ not_ scared to look at life honestly Jess: I've watched you stare it right down the barrel and still _choose_ to love it, even when it SUCKS. And yeah, maybe the way you always somehow see the good in everyone and everything makes me _crazy_ sometimes. But dammit, maybe it _does_ inspire me too, sometimes, you know?! So you just keep being YOU, because you're a really good 'you' to be. And screw anyone who isn't smart enough to see that. Because when...when the right guy is ready for you...he _will_ see it. He's gonna see this chick who is completely wacky and wise and wonderful, and he's gonna think, 'I never want to have to live without this person in my life again'."

A few seconds of silence punctuated the air when he finally stopped, and her smile was all watery and blinky when she said huskily, "That was quite a speech there, Mr. Miller."

And okay, maybe the evening breeze was making his eyes water a little bit too, as he laughed a little shakily, "You're telling me. I'm not gonna lie, all this thinking and feeling and talking and crap has made my head hurt. I'm feeling a little dizzy right now. I don't know how you women do it all the time."

They'd sat there until the sun had dipped beneath the ledge of the building, and Jess gave an involuntary shiver. And since he couldn't put his arm around her and snuggle her to his side, he stood up and offered her his hand, "Well, if you're done running away, let's go home, lady."

She smiled ruefully as she whined, "Do we haaave to?!"

"Trust me, I've run away before. It's fun for awhile, but it never works out. Sure, right now it feels like a little fantasy world up here...but wait until you're hungry, or have to use the bathroom. That's when the bozos you live with start looking pretty good again."

She laughed gently as she let him pull her up. "Well, I hate to end the nice time we've been having, but I _did_ have a great big glass of water right before I threw my little fit." And then to his surprise she _did_ snuggle into his side, and pulled his arm around her shoulder as they began to walk across the roof. "Thanks Nick."

"For what?"

"For...I don't know. For always being there. For always making up after we fight. For...for seeing the worst in me, and liking me anyway."

"You're a pretty likable person, Jessica Day." He stopped her in front of the door. A lock of hair blew across her face, and he indulged himself in one final sweet, stolen second, brushing it back and looping it behind her ear, before taking a deep breath, putting a hand on the door knob, and asking, "You ready?"

She smiled a sad smile of acceptance, "To go back to the real world?"

"Yep!"

She nodded, "I'm not afraid, are you?"

He sniffed at himself as he pushed the door open, "Of course I am. I'm always afraid. You know that...that's my thing ." But he gestured grandly, "After you, my lady."

She paused a second. "Okay...maybe I'm afraid too. A little. But you know what?"

"What."

"Somehow I'm always less scared when I'm with you." And she patted him on the chest fondly as she took the first steps back towards their real lives.

Nick found himself suddenly incapable of answering, but it didn't matter. Shutting the door behind them and following her back home seemed like a reply in and of itself, at that moment.


	6. Chapter 6

Winston pulled him aside the second they walked through the door of the loft, to whisper with furtive intensity, "Dude, I am so sorry...I didn't go deep enough before...I Urban Dictionary-ed when I should have Wikipedia-ed. Turns out, the feminists are all up in arms about this whole manic pixie dream girl thing..."

Nick just laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "Relax man, it's cool..."

"Is that Nick? Is Nick back? NICK!" Schmidt came out of his room yelling. "Your friend Dirk seems to have absconded with the cashmere Burberry scarf that I've had since 2007!"

"Oh Schmidt, you know that just came out of your lost and found box!" Jess said.

"Your point being?!" Schmidt retorted. "She was a reticent sociology major on the outside, but her knowledge of 'human social activity' really came out in the bedroom,_ if_ you know what I mean. There's a lot of memories tied up in that scarf, and when I say 'tied up'..."

Nick smiled at Jess in secret shared amusement as Schmidt continued, and whispered, "Welcome back!"

She looked around the loft, tilted her head thoughtfully, and smiled affectionately at Schmidt and Winston, who were now bickering again over whether or not a "jar-ing" was currently called for. "You know what?!" she said in happy wonder, "Turns out there's no where else I'd rather call home, right now!"

And suddenly Nick had to try really hard to remember why he wasn't supposed to feel inspired by her. Because when he looked at their screwed up lives through her eyes, he could sometimes see it as she did, as a happy adventure full of people worth loving. Then the tight knot that always lived inside his stomach would unravel a bit, and he would feel like maybe, just maybe, in the end, it might even turn out that this crazy life _was_ worth the living, after all.

And damn if those weren't the times when it felt like he'd been waiting his whole black and white life for her to show up with her great big box of crayons to teach him how to dance, and...and...a whole bag full of mixed up tropes and cliches like that. Because sometimes he suspected that this beautifully flawed, fey girl was the answer to every question he'd never even known he had.


End file.
